There were plenty of problems with Tuesday night’s “Team Melo vs. Goodman League” basketball game at Hill Field House on the campus of Morgan State University.

It was thrown together late with little promotion and a venue change announced only 24 hours before the event (the game was originally to be played at St. Frances Academy). It was played at a venue that was still too small to accommodate the players, fans and media attention an event with such star power would attract.

There wasn’t enough parking. There wasn’t a whole lot of community involvement from the players involved, even the stars from Charm City who participated.

But despite all that, the event put on Tuesday night was pretty magical.

James and Paul joined Anthony on “Team Melo”, made up mostly of former Baltimore standouts (including retired NBA G and former University of Maryland star Juan Dixon). Durant headlined the Goodman League team, made up of Washington DC-based stars.

The event was very much an exhibition, as the level of defense played was comparable to the NBA All-Star Game. It was reflected in the final score, as Team Melo held on for a 149-141 victory in the contest.

But for as much about the event that was less than desirable, there was equally as much excellent.

Hill Field House was electric Tuesday night, as the 4,500 seat venue was filled to an overflow level with fans stacked everywhere room could be found in the building. Every time a star like James, Durant, Paul or Anthony would touch the ball the entire building would explode in anticipation. When one of those players would deliver a thunderous dunk, stepback jumper, sensational crossover or alleyoop finish the explosion would literally shake the building.

I’ve attended special events at Hill Field House (namely Reggie Holmes’ Senior Night beatdown of Coppin State in which he broke the Bears’ all-time scoring record), but I’ve never attended any basketball event in Baltimore that was as electric as the event was Tuesday night.

“I think Baltimore needed this” Anthony said after the event. “I think they definitely needed this, I think just to bring the morale of the city back up. The fans haven’t seen nothing like this in a long long time. We want to keep it going.”

There’s certainly an argument that Anthony is correct. Charm City summers regularly feature little for the city to rally around, as the Baltimore Orioles have offered little for the city to get excited about. Without a NBA or NHL team in town, there is a significant void between the end of Baltimore Ravens season and….the start of the next Baltimore Ravens season.

While late in that timeframe and surrounded by the nervousness of the current NBA lockout, Anthony and company did their part to fill the void in Baltimore with a memorable event.

The star of the show was Durant, who electrified the crowd at every turn. He finished (unofficially) with a game high 59 points, just short of the 66 he posted in an exhibition event earlier this summer at New York’s famed Rucker Park. Durant scored many of points in single coverage against James, thrilling those in attendance with an array of offensive moves.

For his part, Durant seemed to have enjoyed playing in front of the Baltimore crowd.

“(It was a) crazy atmosphere, playing in front of the Baltimore fans” the former Texas Longhorns star said after the game. “I grew up in Maryland. Baltimore and DC kinda have a big rivalry, so to play against those guys was a lot of fun for me. I’m excited I got that opportunity.”

The start of the game was actually delayed nearly 30 minutes due to Durant’s late arrival at Morgan State. The superstar apologized for causing the delay, noting he had run into traffic troubles on his way to the game.

The atmosphere truly was crazy, and would be difficult to be replicated elsewhere. It might not have been a sign that Baltimore is deserving of a NBA franchise to call its own, but it was certainly a sign that the city is still basketball-crazy.

If Anthony intends to bring his superstar friends back to town next summer or other times in the future a bigger venue (like 1st Mariner Arena downtown) could be an option, but perhaps some of the atmosphere would be lost as the venue size increased.

Maybe some of the magic of the event Tuesday night was simply based on the idea that screaming, sweaty fans in a small gym would provide a retro feel and make the atmosphere as exciting as the game itself.

If that was the case, the event was a success. It was a hell of a show.

-G

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A team of Baltimore NBA superstars and friends of Towson Catholic’s own Carmelo Anthony will face Kevin Durant and a team of Washington, DC superstars in a basketball battle Tuesday night at Morgan State University’s Hill Field House.

The details on the event have been sketchy, but the Washington Post’s Michael Lee was able to nail down some specifics from former Towson University star Kurk Lee, now the athletic director of the “Melo Center” here in Charm City.

Lee reports tickets will be available first-come-first-served at the door. Tickets $40 for general admission, $100 for reserved floor seats. Doors will open at 6pm with the game starting at 7pm. Ticket revenue will go to support various charities.

There will be no television/radio broadcast of the event. WNST plans to cover the event via Twitter (@WNST), WNST.net and WNSTv.

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I’m so bitter that all of the good shows are in DC this week. Men shouldn’t admit to enjoying The Script as much as I do…but I REALLY enjoy The Script. A lot…

WNST intern Ryan Morrison hooked me up with an advance copy of Tha Carter IV…I hope I’m not getting him in legal hot water by mentioning that. There was a humorous moment during Hurricane Irene where everyone in my house was singing along to this song. Don’t play it if you’re at work. Unless you work at The Gold Club. If you do, could you bring a Chap’s sandwich by the station Monday?

I’m not sure which yet, but either Friday night or Monday early afternoon I’ll be at the fair. I have two goals. ONE-watching something get born in the Birthing Center and squirm like hell. TWO-Re-enact this picture…

Glorious. Re-enacting THIS picture would also be an option…

There’s a good chance I win the Breeders Cup at some point in the future.

Oh-I’m playing for a kickball title Thursday night in Aberdeen before the Ravens game. The hell with the Ravens game, no one that matters is playing. I’m playing for a kickball title. I’d love to have you guys come support us. You really owe me at least that much considering all I’ve done for you.

I will occasionally seize moments to write blogs tailored after topics or subjects covered during the MORNING REACTION. Hey, I have been a devout listener of the program for seven years – although, I’m still not in its Hall Of Fame.

Admittedly, Drew and Glenn conceive original, thought provoking themes that create debate and conjecture. Whether it’s the Tuesday Top-7, Cheap Shots From The Bleachers or the Airing Of The Grievances, I’m consistently inspired to contribute a thought or three …..

Perhaps, you will agree with me. Then again, maybe you won’t see my vision. And, if that’s the case …. dude, you’re just wrong !!!!
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.An “EXPERT” Would Know This
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When it comes to knowing the Baltimore-area sports scene, I’m growing increasingly weary of hearing the same scholastic programs mentioned in the context of tradition, heritage and storied existence.

Calvert Hall, Loyola, Dunbar, North Harford (just kidding), Coppin, Morgan and a few other programs get way too much exposure, in my humble opinion …..

Perhaps, it’s my love for the county that sits just south of Baltimore. Yeah, that’s right …. the same county where the STATE CAPITAL is located. And, it’s also home of Maryland’s most prolific and accomplished scholar sports program.

It’s my honor to present the ARUNDEL HIGH SCHOOL baseball program. Since 1974, the Wildcats have achieved a 706-260 record, and a record TEN STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS. And, they’ve accomplished such an impressive resume’ while excelling among heralded Class 4A competition.
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.If You Wanna Get Dirty
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When I think of “Dirty Players” throughout the history of our sports landscape, one name always pops right up: Bill Romanowski …..

He was beyond being the customary spitter, trash talker or spirited soul who couldn’t “turn it off” with the sound of a whistle. He kicked and stepped upon downed players, jacked the jaw of an unsuspecting teammate and seized countless opportunities to exploit indefensible opponents.

Oh yeah, and he was a steroids user – which probably contributed to his many of manic-like actions on and off the field. Bill Romanowski defines dirty, period.
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.In The Bag
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I hate to be the guy who rips open a horrendous wound, especially as its been healing for nearly five months …..

But, you’ve gotta admit 99.9% of our purple kool-aid drinkin’ population was dancing like John Travolta on a disco floor during halftime of the Ravens/Steelers playoff game, back in January.

Come on, just admit it …. you were enjoying a personal moment of halftime celebrations, as the scoreboard revealed a lopsided 21-7 lead for the hometown team.

Then, the 3rd and 4th quarters happened. Fumbles, interceptions and stupid penalties emerged at the wrong possible junctures of the game. Alas, we know how the story ended.

Here are the official recaps of Saturday’s lacrosse action, courtesy of the schools’ Sports Information Departments…

Wharton, Palmer, Boland Power 2nd-Ranked Hopkins Past Navy, 14-5

BALTIMORE, MD – A year ago, the Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team jumped out to a 5-0 first quarter lead against Navy, only to watch the Midshipmen storm back for a 9-8 overtime victory that snapped JHU’s 36-game winning streak in the series. On Saturday night at Homewood Field, the Blue Jays again jumped to a 5-0 lead, but instead of wilting, they pushed the lead to 10-0 at the half and cruised to a 14-5 victory before a crowd of 4,682. The win is the fifth straight for the Blue Jays, who improve to 10-2 on the year, while the Midshipmen dropped their fifth straight and finish the season at 4-9.

The Blue Jays needed just 45 seconds to open the scoring as senior Chris Boland capped JHU’s first possession with an unassisted goal to give JHU a quick 1-0 lead. It look far less time than that – six seconds to be exact – for the Blue Jays to push the lead to 2-0 as graduate student Ben Smith worked his way to the high slot off the ensuing faceoff and scored off a nifty feed inside from senior Matt Dolente.

Boland and fellow starting attackmen Zach Palmer and Kyle Wharton combined for seven goals and seven assists in the win and at least one of the three had a hand in six of JHU’s next eight goals as the Blue Jays stormed to the 10-0 lead.

Palmer’s extra-man goal just under six minutes into the game pushed the lead to 3-0 and he added the first of his career-high five assists three minutes later when he got the helper on an extra-man goal by sophomore John Greeley. Sophomore John Ranagan and Boland added unassisted goals in a 93-second span late in the quarter to make it 6-0 at the end of the first period.
Any hopes for a Navy comeback were gone in the second quarter as Wharton bookended a four-goal period for the Blue Jays. He got the first of his four goals on the night just over three minutes into the period off a feed from freshman Eric Ruhl and then capped the first half with an extra-man goal that was assisted by Palmer. In between, freshmen midfielders Ruhl and Rob Guida scored for the Blue Jays. Palmer assisted on Ruhl’s goal as he drew the defense in tight with a dodge from behind before finding Ruhl alone 10 yards out with time and room, while Guida scooped up a loose ball on the crease and beat Navy goalie RJ Wickham from in close for his ninth goal of the year.

The Midshipmen finally broke through with 11:37 remaining in the third quarter when freshman Sam Jones scored on a dodge from behind the goal, but Hopkins answered with three goals in a span of just 96 seconds midway through the period to take its largest lead at 13-1. Greeley netted his second man-up goal of the night to jump-start the three-goal run, which included back-to-back goals by Wharton – with the first assisted by Boland and the second by Palmer.

Navy, as expected, never quit and scored the next four goals to make it 13-5. The first three of those goals – an extra-man strike by Harrison Chaires late in the third quarter and tallies by Nikk Davis and Taylor Reynolds early in the fourth – came in a span of just under four minutes, while Sean Dinn’s first goal of the season with 3:22 remaining in the game made it 13-5. Greg Edmonds’ first career goal in the final minute of the game closed the scoring for the Blue Jays and accounted for the 14-5 final score.

Palmer’s six points (1g, 5a) paced the Blue Jays, while Wharton (4g) and Boland (2g, 2a) added four points apiece for JHU, which held advantages in shots (41-32) and ground balls (35-30). Dolente won 13-of-19 faceoffs and grabbed a game-high seven ground balls for Johns Hopkins, which also converted on 4-of-7 extra-man chances.

Jones and Dinn paced Navy with one goal and one assist and Wickham posted seven saves in goal for Navy, but an 0-for-10 showing on faceoffs in the first half contributed to a 27-7 advantage in shots for JHU before intermission and helped lead to the 10-0 halftime score that was just too much for the Midshipmen to overcome.

BALTIMORE – Four Loyola University Maryland players scored two goals each, and the No. 20/19 Greyhounds clinched a bid to the first-ever ECAC Lacrosse League Championships with an 11-8 victory over visiting Hobart on Senior Day at Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday.

Hobart’s Mike White tied the game at 8-8 with just eight second to go in the third quarter, and it looked like the teams would head to the final period deadlocked, but John Schiavone won the ensuing face-off to himself, ran into the box and dished a pass to Mike Sawyer who was camped seven yards from the goal on the left side.

Saywer ripped a shot into the upper right corner for his second of the game to put Loyola (8-3 overall, 4-2 ECAC) in front for good with four ticks left in the third quarter.

The victory was the Greyhounds’ fifth in a row and clinched the No. 2 seed for the ECAC Championships that will be held May 5-7 in Denver, Colo. Loyola will play the No. 3 seed Fairfield in the semifinals. The Stags clinched their spot in the Championships with a victory Saturday at Ohio State.

Loyola added two fourth-quarter goals by Scott Ratliff and Chris Basler, and the Greyhounds held the Statesmen (5-8, 2-3) scoreless on eight shots in the period, to provide the final margin.

“I thought that we came out and moved the ball very well today,” Head Coach Charley Toomey said. “Coach (Dan) Chemotti made that a point of emphasis this week, and we did a good job of making sure that we made the extra pass.”

Sawyer, Matt Langan, Stephen Murray and Patrick Fanshaw each scored twice, and Fanshaw led the Greyhounds with three points, notching an assist on Murray’s extra-man goal.

Hobart scored first when Cam Stone recorded the first of his game-high three goals on a man-up tally 2:18 into play, but the Greyhounds reeled off three consecutive by Langan, Sawyer and Murray to lead 3-1 with 5:10 to play in the first.

The Statesmen tied it at 3-3, however, as Alex Love scored late in the first, and Chris Pedersen found the net 1:16 into the second quarter.

The score remained tied for more nearly eight minutes until Langan came from behind the cage and around a Sawyer screen to beat Hobart goalie Jon Lawless stick-side high with 6:00 on the clock.

Loyola struck next on the EMO as Chris Basler slipped a pass to Fanshaw, and the sophomore scored his first of the contest.

Murray used a face dodge at the top of the box to get space down the left alley and score with 2:27 to go in the half.

Greyhounds’ goalie Jake Hagelin made a clean save of a Hobart shot and sent an outlet pass over the top to Ratliff who flipped it to Fanshaw, and he scored in transition with 1:19 to go, giving Loyola a 7-3 advantage.

Hobart would close the gap to three when Stone scored just nine seconds later, and the team went to the locker room at halftime with the Greyhounds on top, 7-4.

Stone’s goal ignited a 4-0 Hobart rally that was capped by Sam Miller’s lone goal of the afternoon at 4:36 in the third quarter, tying the game at 7-7. Miller entered the game with a team-high 25 goals.

Davis Butts put Loyola back in front by a goal, 8-7, scoring with a low shot after a dodge from the left side.

White tied things again for the Statesmen with eight seconds to go in the third, but the draw would be short-lived before Sawyer’s go-ahead goal.

Hagelin made seven saves for the Greyhounds who outshot the Statesmen, 41-30. Lawless made his first start of the season and finished with 14 saves.

The Greyhounds have one final regular-season game left on the schedule before heading to Denver for the league championships. Loyola will travel a short distance down Charles Street to play at Johns Hopkins next Saturday at 2 p.m.

No. 3 Salisbury Rallies For 16-14 Win Over No. 1 Stevenson in CAC Title Game

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The No. 1-ranked Stevenson men’s lacrosse team scored eight first quarter goals and led by four at halftime, but No. 3 Salisbury held the nation’s second-ranked scoring offense to just three goals over the final 35:18 in capturing their 16th win and 16th CAC championship with a 16-14 win Saturday at Caves Athletics Complex.

The loss snapped a 15-game home winning streak for the Mustangs (16-2) who were 9-0 at home this season entering today’s game. Stevenson is 30-4 at home since 2009 with three of its four losses coming to the Sea Gulls.

Meanwhile, Salisbury (16-1) has won 14-straight on the road, including eight this season, and is 4-1 all-time at Caves Athletics Complex, winning CAC titles on the Mustangs’ home field in 2009 and 2011.

The visiting team has now won six of the last eight meetings in the series which began in 2007. The Sea Gulls lead the overall series 7-4, but each team has won four times in eight meetings since 2009.

Trailing 11-7, Salisbury began its comeback with 7:08 remaining in the second quarter when they inserted reserve goalie Tim Swinburn in for 2010 USILA Second Team All-American Johnny Rodriguez. From that point, the Sea Gulls outscored the Mustangs 9-3 over the final 35-plus minutes while Swinburn made a career-high 12 saves, including 10 in the second half and seven in the fourth quarter as Stevenson outshot Salisbury, 16-3.

Swinburn’s previous career-high in saves was six.

Led by Swinburn, Salisbury went on an 8-0 run during a span of 22:08 over the second and third quarters, holding the Mustangs scoreless for the entire third quarter, the first time in 72 quarters this season Stevenson has been held without a goal.

Tony Mendes scored four of his five goals in the second half for the Sea Gulls, who outshot the Mustangs 20-9 in the third quarter, while Matt Connone had two goals and two assists.

The final 35 minutes were a complete change from the first 25 where Stevenson built a 10-5 advantage and led 8-3 after the first quarter. Prior to allowing eight first-quarter goals Saturday, Salisbury had outscored its opponents 64-16 in the opening period.

Senior Neal Barthelme (Towson/Dulaney) finished with six goals and seven points for Stevenson, his fifth game with at least seven points this season. With six goals, Barthelme set a new single-season school record and now has 65, surpassing the previous mark of 59 set by senior Richie Ford (Baltimore/Towson) in 2008.

In just two seasons with the team, Barthelme has totaled 99 goals and ranks fifth on the school’s career list.

Senior Jimmy Dailey (Westminster/Winters Mill) who has scored a school record 107 points this season, added six more on Saturday as he finished with two goals and four assists. He now has 51 assists this season, just four shy of the school record set by Eric Schmith in 1998.

Senior Ray Witte (Annapolis/St. Peter and Paul) scored two goals and won 20-of-32 face-offs, including the 600th of his career. He also scooped up 11 ground balls and now has 320 for his career, 25 shy of Matt Smoot’s school record.

Ford had one goal and three assists for the Mustangs who were just 2-for-13 with the man-advantage as they could not capitalize on Salisbury’s nearly 10 minutes of penalty time.

The Retrievers won for the fourth straight time and improved to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in league play. UMBC clinched a spot in the four-team America East Tournament for the eighth time in eight conference campaigns.

Vermont dropped its third straight and fell to 6-8, 1-3.

Jones was UMBC’s America East Player of the Game, while Vermont junior attackman Geoff Worley tallied three goals and added a helper and was the Catamount’s Player of the Game.

Vermont tied the game at 8-all on a goal by sophomore attackman Thomas Galvin with 9:09 remaining and the Catamounts had two man-up opportunities down the stretch to take the lead. But Galvin committed a turnover on the second penalty and UMBC gained possession and called time out with 54 seconds remaining.

Vermont had one last opportunity, but Garrett Virtue’s left-handed shot from 12 yards away missed wide right with two seconds remaining.

Senior midfielder Jamie Kimbles (Centreville, Md./Queen Anne’s) and junior attackman Rob Grimm (Black River, N.Y.) each added two goals and one assist for the hosts. Freshman midfielder Conor Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys’ Latin) scored his first two collegiate goals, both in the first quarter.

Galvin recorded two goals and an assist for the Catamounts, while Vermont’s leading scorer, sophomore attackman Drew Philie, added a goal and two helpers.

Vermont took a 4-3 lead after 15 minutes, but UMBC outscored the visitors, 4-1, in the second stanza. Jones fed Grimm on a fast break for the game-tying goal with 8:49 remaining in the period, and Grimm returned the favor to Jones just 35 seconds later.

Worley scored a man-up goal with 5:00 left in the period to tie the score, but Kimbles equalized that with an extra-man goal with 1:21 to play. After a Retriever time-out and restart, Grimm went right to the cage and made it 7-5 21 seconds later.

UMBC took that lead into halftime and went ahead, 8-5 on Jones goal with 7:25 to play in the third period. But UMBC would go scoreless for the next 21:49, while the Catamounts eventually tied the score.

Retriever sophomore Joseph Impallaria (Lutherville, Md./Calvert Hall) came off the bench and won 12 of 17 draws as UMBC outdrew Vermont, 13-8.

Jones reached the 20-goal plateau and now leads the team with 28 points.

UMBC is 4-0 in games decided by three goals or less this season and 23-11 in those situations since 2007. They have won their last six games decided by a single goal, dating back to a 6-5 loss to Princeton in 2009. The Retrievers have never lost to Vermont (8-0), but three of the last four games have been decided by one or two goals.

The Retrievers conclude the regular season at Hartford on April 30.

Tigers Fall at Drexel, 13-9

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Senior attackman Scott Perri scored five goals and added two assists to lead Drexel University (7-6, 3-3) to its second win in the last three games, a 13-9 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Tigers (2-10, 0-5) at the Dragons’ Vidas Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.Perri scored three of his five goals in the second half as Drexel broke open a close game by scoring six goals in the third quarter en route to the victory.

After Perri gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the first quarter, the Tigers took a 2-1 lead on back-to-back goals by senior midfielder Pat Britton.

But, Drexel responded by scoring three straight goals to start the second quarter for a 4-2 advantage with 5:37 remaining.

Junior attackman Matt Lamon and junior midfielder Michael Brashears tied the game at 4-4 by scoring a pair of goals in a 59-second span before sophomore attackman Brendan Glynn regained the Dragons’ advantage by scoring with 1:19 remaining in the first half.

Led by a goal and an assist from sophomore attackman Robert Church, the Dragons opened the second half by scoring five straight goals to take a commanding 10-4 lead with 8:43 left in the period. With 8:06 left, sophomore attackman Dan Kramer ended the Dragons’ run by scoring off an assist from freshman midfielder Andrew Hodgson, trimming the deficit to 10-5.

After the teams traded goals twice, Brashears scored his second goal of the game on an extra-man tally off an assist from senior midfielder Peter Mezzanotte with 2:16 remaining, but the Dragons answered just 16 seconds later when junior midfielder Chris Farquharscored for a 13-8 Drexel lead.

Senior attackman Tim Flynn ended the scoring with 1:08 remaining when he scored the first goal of his college career off a feed from junior attackman Stephen Norris.

While Perri led the Dragons with his seven-point performance, Glynn added three goals for the Dragons. Junior goalkeeper Mark Manos made 16 saves, including 10 in the first half, as Towson outshot Drexel by a 43-36 margin.

Britton and Brashears each scored twice to lead the Tigers in a losing effort while Hodgson had three assists.

The Tigers will finish the season next Saturday night when they host Saint Joseph’s in a CAA game at Johnny Unitas® Stadium. Opening face-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.

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Here are the official recaps of Saturday’s games, courtesy of the schools’ Sports Information Departments…

Comer’s OT Goal Gives Loyola Win Over Stags

BALTIMORE – Senior D.J. Comer scored his second goal of the game 49 seconds into overtime to give the #20 Loyola University Maryland Greyhounds a 7-6 victory over visting Fairfield in an ECAC conference game at Ridley Athletic Complex.

The Greyhounds (6-3 overall, 3-2 ECAC) started off quick with goals by Davis Butts and Mike Sawyer to take a 2-0 lead with 12:35 remaining in the first quarter. Fairfield (5-5 overall, 2-2 ECAC) would get one back with a goal by John Snellman 12 seconds before the end of the quarter.

The two teams traded goals in the second and third quarters as Matt Langan scored twice and Comer scored his first of the game to give the Greyhounds a 5-4 lead into the fourth quarter.

Fairfield’s Sam Snow scored just 32 seconds into the fourth period to tie the game, and Max Trunz tallied an extra-man goal with 4:39 remaining to give the Stags their first lead at 6-5. However, Loyola’s Chris Palmer evened the score at 2:50, setting up Comer’s game-winner.

Mike Sawyer finished with a game-high three points on a goal and two assists and Chris Palmer also enjoyed a multi-point effort with a goal and an assist. Jake Hagelin had 10 saves in goal for the Greyhounds.

Loyola outshot Fairfield 38-24 and forced the Stags to commit 16 turnovers to only 11 for the Greyhounds.

The Retrievers won back-to-back games for the first time this season and improved to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in league play. The Bearcats fell to 5-6, 1-1.

Brown was UMBC’s America East Player of the Game, while Bearcat freshman attackman Brandon Planck, who scored a pair of goals, earned the honor for his team.

UMBC used a 6-0 run in the second quarter to take control of the contest. Trailing 2-1 after Binghamton midfielder David Raleigh scored 1:28 into the second quarter, Brown tied the game on an unassisted tally 2:46 into the stanza. Sophomore midfielder Neill Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) gave the Retrievers the lead for good, converting a Rob Grimm (Black River, N.Y.) feed on the right wing just 39 seconds after Brown had tied the game.

Brown completed his hat trick with back-to-back scores 57 seconds apart at the 9:38 and 8:41 marks of the stanza. Then, sophomore attackman Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) got into the act, converting a Brown pass at the 6:22 mark and completing the surge with an unassisted tally with 5:34 to play in the first half.

UMBC had scored only 13 second quarter goals through the first eight games, before exploding for the six-spot in the contest.

Binghamton scored the final two goals of the half and trailed, 7-4, at the break.

The Bearcats slowed UMBC down with a zone defense in the second half and scored the lone goal of the third quarter when Planck tallied midway through the period.

UMBC broke a scoring drought of 25:33 when freshman midfielder Zach Linkous (Jarrettsville, Md./St. Paul’s) fired in a shot from the left wing after receiving a pass from behind the net by senior midfielder Jamie Kimbles (Centreville, Md./Queen Anne’s) at the 11:01 mark of the final stanza.

Raleigh scored his second goal of the game with 4:08 remaining, but UMBC netminder Brian McCullough (Garden City, N.Y.) saved a Tyler Perrelle shot with 1:13 to play and the Retrievers posted their 11th consecutive win over the Bearcats.

Jones and Linkous each scored two goals for UMBC, while Raleigh added a pair for the visitors.

Binghamton outshot UMBC, 33-26, as McCullough and Bearcat freshman goalkeeper Kraig Heston each were credited with six saves.

The six goals allowed by UMBC are the fewest permitted this season and the least since a 6-5 victory over Rutgers in the second game of the 2010 campaign.

The Retrievers travel to Albany to face the Great Danes in a league showdown on April 16.

UMass Stuns Towson In Overtime, 9-8TOWSON, Md. – In a season filled with heart-breaking losses and disappointing endings, the Tigers added another chapter to their story on Saturday against 16th-ranked Massachusetts.

The Minutemen overcame an 8-6 deficit in the final 2:40 of regulation to pull out an unlikely win.

“This is a disappointing loss for us,” Towson Coach Tony Seamansaid. “I thought we played better than UMass did today, but give them credit for taking advantage of a couple of breakdowns on our part in the final two minutes of regulation and in the overtime. For some reason, that’s been the life of this team for the entire year.”

With 2:40 left in regulation, sophomore attackmanWill Mannyscored on a fast break off a pass from junior midfielder Anthony Biscardito cut the deficit to 8-7.

Senior goalkeeper Travis Love made a save off a shot by Biscardi with 1:32 left in regulation and the Tigers tried to run out the clock. However, senior attackman Tim Stratton turned the ball over with nine seconds remaining when he failed to get the ball back inside the box within ten seconds.

Senior midfielder Ryan Hantverktook the ball and sprinted up the field to the left of the Tiger goal. With one second left, he snuck a shot behind Love to tie the game at 8-8.

Although the Tigers controlled the faceoff in overtime, they were unable to get a shot and turned the ball over. With 2:10 left in overtime, Hantverk’s shot hit the post. Smith picked up the loose ball in front of the goal and scored the game-winner, his 14th goal of the season.

For most of the fourth quarter, it appeared that the Tigers were going to pull out a come-from-behind win. UMass owned a 5-3 lead late in the third quarter before the Tigers rallied by scoring four consecutive goals. With 5:24 left in the third quarter, Stratton’s second goal of the game cut the deficit to 5-4.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Tigers tied the game at 5-5 when junior attackman Stephen Norrisscored an extra-man goal off a pass from senior midfielder Peter Mezzanotte with 14:47 left in the fourth quarter.

Senior midfielder Pat Brittongave Towson its first lead of the game when he scored off a pass from Stratton with 12:28 left in regulation.

The Tigers maintained their 6-5 lead until 6:47 remained in the fourth quarter when Britton scored on a long shot out front to up the lead to 7-5.

With 5:01 left in regulation, Manny’s third goal of the game, an extra man goal off a pass from Biscardi, pulled UMass to within 7-6.

Less than a minute later, Britton gave Towson an 8-6 advantage when he scored his third goal off the game off a pass from Andrew Hodgson.

The Minutemen grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the game. Manny gave the Minutemen a 1-0 advantage when he scored an unassisted goal just 1:25 into the game. On the play, Manny forced a turnover, grabbed a ground ball and ran around the goal before he scored.

With 11:24 left in the first quarter, junior attackman Art Kellscored an unassisted goal to give UMass a 2-0 advantage.

An extra man goal by Hodgson off a pass from Mezzanotte cut the Tigers’ deficit to 2-1 early in the second quarter. With 9:19 left in the half, Stratton’s unassisted goal tied the game at 2-2.

With 3:32 remaining in the half, sophomore defenseman Ryan Hollenbaugh scored the first goal of his career on a fast break to give UMass a 3-2 advantage.

Only 28 seconds into the second half, junior midfielder Greg Rushing scored an unassisted goal to increase the UMass lead to 4-2.

After sophomore attackmanMatt Hughes scored off a pass from Stratton to cut the deficit to 4-3, Manny scored an extra man goal to give UMass a 5-3 advantage.

With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 1-4 in one-goal games this season.

Manny led UMass with four goals while Kell added a goal and an assist. Biscardi led the Minutemen with two assists.

Britton, who recorded the second “hat trick” of his career, led the Tigers with three goals while Stratton had a season-high four points by two goals and two assists.

Love made a season-high 13 saves for the Tigers while junior goalkeeper Tim McCormack made ten saves for UMass.

Both teams had 32 shots in the game while Towson owned a 38-27 advantage on ground balls. The Tigers had 15 turnovers, including two turnovers that led to the final two UMass goals. The Minutemen had 11 turnovers.

The Tigers return to action next Saturday at Penn State at 7:00 p.m. for a Colonial Athletic Association game. Meanwhile, the Minutemen will host Drexel next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Garber Field.

Post-Game Notes:
– The Tigers and the Minutemen met for the fourth time in the all-time series … The series is now tied at 2-2 as UMass earned its first-ever win at Towson.
– The Tigers played their fifth one-goal game, including their fourth one-goal affair in the last five games … The Tigers have a 1-4 record in one-goal games this year … The Tigers have now played in 14 one-goal games over the last three years.
– Meanwhile, the Minutemen played in their third one-goal game of the season … It was their first one-goal victory of the year after losing to Albany (9-8) and Penn State (8-7).
– The Tigers played a ranked opponent for the sixth time this year … The Tigers have played a nationally-ranked opponent in all six of their home games this season and have a 1-5 record in those games.
– The Tigers played their first overtime game of the season … It is the Tigers’ first overtime game since April 22, 2009 when Towson dropped an 11-10 decision against Johns Hopkins in double overtime … The Tigers are now 8-10 in overtime games.
– Britton had his first “hat trick” since April 11, 2009 when he scored three goals against Hofstra.
– The Tigers have now lost four games in a row, marking their longest losing streak since a four-game skid during the 2008 season.
– Stratton posted the 32nd multi-point game of his college career … In addition, he had his 14th career multi-goal effort.
– With his four-point game against the Minutemen, Stratton now has 99 points in his college career … With his next point, he will become the 31st player in school history to record 100 career points.
– Mezzanotte tallied the third multi-assist game of his college career … In addition, he now has four career multi-point games … Mezzanotte has tallied seven points in the last three games, scoring two goals with five assists.
– Hodgson earned his sixth multi-point game of the season after scoring a goal with an assist on Saturday afternoon.
– Manny extended his point-scoring streak to 24 straight games after his four-goal performance against Towson on Saturday afternoon … It was his eighth career “hat trick” and his third career four-goal game … He had four goals against Hartford and Saint Joseph’s.
– With a goal and an assist on Saturday, Kell recorded the 17th multi-point game of his college career.
– Biscardi matched his career high with two assists against Towson on Saturday … It was the ninth multi-assist game of his career.– Hantverk has a 10-game point-scoring streak after tallying a goal against Towson … He has scored 14 goals with five assists during the streak

Junior attackman J.P. Lennon (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony’s) notched his second consecutive multiple-goal game as Lennon paced the Seahawks (3-8, 2-4 CAC) in the loss with a hat trick while senior midfielder Will Bell(Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) scored the team’s fourth goal.

Stevenson (13-1, 6-0 CAC) struck first as senior midfielder Neal Barthleme(Towson, Md./Dulaney) completed a pass from senior attackman Jimmy Dailey (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) for a man-up goal at 11:52 following a two-minute illegal body check to the head penalty on senior LSM Michael Ott(Arnold, Md./Broadneck). Lennon evened up the game with his first tally of the day at 9:44 off an assist by senior attackman Chris Becraft (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel) before Dailey scored twice to give the Mustangs a 3-1 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Mustangs then proceeded to score the next five goals, including the first two of the period by Dailey. Lennon broke up the Stevenson scoring with an unassisted goal at 2:19. Stevenson then tallied two in a 28-second span as Barthleme and senior midfielder Kyle Moffitt (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) each found the back of the net for a 10-2 Mustang halftime lead.

Dailey picked up his fifth of the day to start the third stanza before Lennonnetted his third of the day at 10:58 off an assist by senior attackman Dennis Rosson (Severna Park, Md./Severn). Stevenson then strung together six straight goals – two to end the third and four to start off the fourth period. Barthleme scored three straight in a span of 3:34 before Bell fired in his shot as time expired.

Along with his 20 stops, Wheeler led the Seahawks with five ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Here are the official recaps of Saturday’s lacrosse action, courtesy of the respective schools’ Sports Information Departments…

Hughes Leads Tigers Past #5 Stony Brook, 9-8

TOWSON, Md. – Sophomore attackman Matt Hughes scored a game-high three goals, including the eventual game-winner with 9:50 left in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers (2-4) snapped a two-game losing streak by earning a 9-8 non-conference victory over fifth-ranked Stony Brook University (3-2) at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Led by Hughes, who posted his third “hat trick” in the last four games, the Tigers defeated a top five opponent for the first time since April 27, 1996 when they defeated fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins by a 13-12 margin at Homewood Field.

“These kids did a great job today,” Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. “Travis Lovemade some big saves for us when we needed them and Matt Hughes put the ball in the goal. I am very proud of this team and what they did today.”

After senior midfielder Timmy Trenkle gave the Seawolves a quick 1-0 lead just 62 seconds into the game, the Tigers answered by scoring back-to-back goals from Hughes and junior attackman Sean Maguire to take a 2-1 lead with 7:52 left in the first quarter.

Trenkle and senior midfielder Kevin Crowley regained the Seawolves’ advantage when they scored a pair of unassisted goals, giving Stony Brook a 3-2 lead with 2:20 remaining in the period.

But, the Tigers held Stony Brook scoreless for the next 17 minutes, 14 seconds while scoring six unanswered goals to take an 8-3 lead with 54 seconds remaining in the first half. The Tigers had six different players score a goal during the run, including senior attackman Tim Stratton, who scored his first goal of the season with 13:19 left in the second quarter.

Junior midfielder Robbie Campbell scored a pair of goals off feeds from Crowley in the final 13 seconds of the first half, narrowing the Seawolves’ deficit to 8-5 at the intermission.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Tigers upped their lead to 9-5 when Hughes took a pass from freshman Andrew Hodgson and scored his third goal of the game with 9:50 left in regulation.

Over the final nine minutes, the Seawolves scored three times to trim the deficit to 9-8. With 8:27 left, senior attackman Jordan McBridescored off a feed from senior attackman Tom Compitello to close the gap to 9-6.

Just over three minutes later, Trenkle scored his third goal of the game off a feed from Campbell for a 9-7 margin.

With 12 seconds left, Crowley cut the deficit to 9-8 when he tallied his second goal of the game after getting a pass from McBride. The Seawolves won the ensuing face-off, but were unable to get a shot as the final horn sounded.

While Hughes led the Tigers with his three-goal effort, Maguire added a pair of goals with an assist for Towson, which outshot Stony Brook by a 29-27 margin.

Crowley scored two goals with three assists for the Seawolves while Trenkle added his second career “hat trick” with three goals. Senior midfielder Adam Rand won 13 of 21 face-offs for the Seawolves, who had won their last three games after a season-opening overtime loss against Virginia.

The Tigers, who played their third game in an eight-day span, will open their Colonial Athletic Association schedule next Saturday afternoon when they travel to the University of Delaware for a 1 p.m. game against the defending CAA champion Blue Hens. Meanwhile, the Seawolves open a three-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon against Cornell at 7 p.m.

“This has been a tough week for us,” Coach Seaman added. “We played Maryland last Saturday, faced Navy on Tuesday night and then, had to play a very good Stony Brook team today. There is nothing easy about it, but the reason we do it is to get us ready for our conference, which starts next week.”

Post-Game Notes:– The Tigers and the Seawolves were meeting for the second time in an all-time series which is tied at 1-1 … Stony Brook defeated Towson by a 14-11 margin in last year’s meeting at LaValle Stadium.– The Tigers defeated a nationally-ranked opponent for the first time since last year’s CAA semi-final when they defeated 16th-ranked Massachusetts by a 13-6 margin … The Tigers had lost all three games this year against ranked foes prior to Saturday.– The Tigers posted their first win over a top five opponent at home since April 4, 1992 when they defeated top-ranked Loyola at home by an 8-7 margin in overtime.– Stratton scored his first goal since last year when he tallied a goal against Massachusetts in the CAA semi-finals at Unitas Stadium … It snapped a six-game scoreless streak.– The Tigers held an opponent scoreless in the third quarter for the fourth time in six games this season … In the first six games, the Tigers have allowed just six third-quarter goals.– With his three-goal effort, Hughes extended his point-scoring streak to nine straight games … During the streak, he has scored 15 goals with four assists.– The Tigers held Stony Brook to a season-low eight goals on Saturday … The Seawolves were also limited to a season-low 27 shots against the Tigers.

Syracuse Slips Past Johns Hopkins in Double Overtime

SYRACUSE, NY – Syracuse senior Stephen Keogh scored his third goal of the game 15 seconds into the second overtime to lift the top-ranked Orange to a 5-4 victory over Johns Hopkins before a crowd of 8,241 at the Carrier Dome Saturday evening. Syracuse improves to 6-0, while the Blue Jays slip to 5-2.

After losing 10 of the first 13 faceoffs in the game, the Orange got the one that counted as senior Joel White came up with the loose ball on the faceoff in the second overtime and quickly worked the ball to Jeremy Thompson. Thompson carried into the zone and found Keogh to his left and he wasted no time blowing home the game-winner.

In a game much more exciting than the final score might indicate, the Blue Jays led 4-3 at the end of the third quarter after Zach Palmer’s second unassisted goal of the game with 3:07 remaining in the period gave JHU a one-goal lead. That lead held for nearly the entire fourth quarter on the strength on the spectacular play of sophomore goalie Pierce Bassett, who posted seven of his 16 saves in the fourth quarter.

Still, the Orange pressed and finally capitalized when Keogh polished off a patient possession with his second goal of the game with 1:40 remaining in regulation. The Blue Jays managed to force overtime after killing off a penalty in the last minute with Bassett stopping Tim Desko in the final seconds.

Both teams had chances to win in the first overtime as Hopkins fired four shots at senior John Galloway and Syracuse managed a pair on Bassett, but the first extra session settled nothing after a Kyle Wharton goal for Johns Hopkins was waived off with four seconds remaining for being in the crease. Keogh’s goal quickly ended the dramatics in the second overtime.
The Orange needed just 65 seconds to open the scoring as senior Josh Amidon took a nifty feed from sophomore JoJo Marasco and buried an eight-yard shot to give SU the early one-goal advantage. By the time Syracuse scored again, more than 27 minutes had elapsed and the Blue Jays had crafted a 3-1 lead.

Sophomore John Ranagan answered Amidon’s early strike when he scored on an ally dodge in an unsettled situation with just under five minutes remaining in the opening period, which ended with the score tied 1-1 and the young Blue Jays gaining momentum as the period wore on.

Ranagan and linemate John Greeley, playing in his hometown for the first time in his career, teamed up to give JHU a 2-1 lead less than a minute into the second period as Greeley worked in from the flank and flipped a pass to Ranagan, who never broke stride and beat Galloway from seven yards out.

Hopkins extended its lead to 3-1 – the first time this season Syracuse has been down by two goals – when Palmer dodged from behind and used his defender as a perfect screen to beat Galloway low to the far side.

Syracuse ended its scoring drought with just under two minutes remaining in the first half when Tom Palasek threaded a perfect pass to Keogh on the crease and Keogh did what he does best, one-time it home from the doorstep to make it 3-2 at the half.

The Orange drew even midway through the third quarter when Amidon struck off an assist from Palasek. The tie stood for just over four minutes before Palmer’s second goal gave JHU the 4-3 lead that held until the final two minutes of regulation.

Bassett finished with 16 saves, the second-highest total of his career, and Ranagan and Palmer led the way offensively with their two goals apiece. Senior Matt Dolente continued his strong play on faceoffs as he won 10-of-14 and grabbed six ground balls on the night.

USAFA, Colo. – The U.S. Air Force Academy jumped out to a five-goal lead in the second quarter and held off the 17th-ranked Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team, 8-6, in an ECAC Lacrosse League game on Saturday afternoon at Falcon Stadium.

The Falcons (2-5 overall, 1-1 ECAC) scored the game’s first three goals and held Loyola (3-3, 1-1) off the scoreboard for over 13 minutes to start the contest.

Adam Paranka and Vinny Sandtorv scored at 10:11 and 8:47 in the first quarter to put Air Force ahead, and Mike Crampton logged a goal 3:36 before the end of the frame.

Josh Hawkins broke the Greyhounds’ scoring drought with his first goal of the season 1:53 before the end of the quarter.

Air Force picked up where it left off offensive, however, in the second quarter. Tommy McKee scored 1:21 into the frame, and Sandtorv tallied his second and third goals of the afternoon to push the Falcons’ advantage to five, 6-1.

Loyola cut its deficit to four, 6-2, with 19 ticks left on the first-half clock as Davis Butts scored off a Mike Sawyer assist.

The Greyhounds pulled within three as Matt Langan took a Justin Ward pass and scored 2:14 into the third quarter, but Crampton scored back-to-back goals for the Falcons, extending their lead back to five, 8-3, with just under nine minutes to go in the third quarter.

Chris Basler tallied a goal for Loyola with 4:14 to go in the third, making it a four-goal game.

Loyola made it a three-goal Air Force lead after a strange sequence led to a man-down goal. Goalkeeper Jake Hagelin cleared the ball from the defensive end by himself and scored his first career goal with 4:44 to play.

Air Force won the next faceoff but a Sandtorv shot went wide, and Loyola had a chance on offense. Stephen Murray scored for the Greyhounds, pulling them within two.The Greyhounds had an extra-man opportunity with less than 90 seconds remaining, but Air Force forced a turnover to secure the game.

Loyola outshot the Falcons, 32-23 and 19-8 in the second half. Brian Wilson made 10 saves in goal for the Falcons. The Greyhounds also had an 11-18 advantage at the face-off `X’, as J.P. Dalton won a career-high 10-of-16 restarts. Scott Ratliff led Loyola with five ground balls.

The Greyhounds step out of conference play next weekend when travel to Emmittsburg, Md., for a 1 o’clock game at Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Stevenson men’s lacrosse freshman Tony Rossi (Towson/Calvert Hall) tied his career-high with three goals, including the game-tying and game-winning goals in the final 10 minutes to lead the No. 2-ranked Mustangs to a 10-8 victory over No. 4 SUNY Cortland on Saturday at Caves Athletics Complex.

Stevenson (8-0) improved its record to 17-1 at home the last two seasons and 5-0 this year. It was also the team’s fourth victory in as many as games against a top-10 team this season.

The game featured seven ties and four lead changes, the last coming on back-to-back goals by Rossi with 11:42 and 9:02 remaining in the fourth quarter as the Mustangs rallied from their fourth one-goal deficit.

After Mike Tota gave the Red Dragons (4-1) an 8-7 lead with 13:24 left, Rossi netted his second goal of the game at 11:42 to tie the game for the seventh and final time before picking up his first collegiate game-winning goal at 9:06.

On the ensuing face-off, senior Ray Witte (Annapolis/St. Peter and Paul) won his 12th draw of the game and picked up his fifth ground ball of the game en route to scoring his fifth goal of the season just seven seconds later to provide some insurance with 8:59 to play.

Stevenson’s three fourth quarter goals and six saves from junior Ian Bolland (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes) helped offset the team’s eight turnovers which kept Cortland within striking distance. With the win, he improved his record to 10-0 as a starter.

Prior to Saturday, the only other meeting between the two teams came back on Feb. 24, 2007 at Caves Athletics Complex with the Mustangs posted a 10-9 victory over the third-ranked Red Dragons in what was Stevenson’s first win over a ranked team in school history.

With two goals and one assist, senior Jimmy Dailey (Westminster/Winters Mill) also totaled three points and now has 259 for his career, tying him with Eric Schmith for the school record. With two assists, senior Richie Ford (Baltimore/Towson) now has 255 career points, four behind Schmith and Dailey.

In addition, Dailey also picked up his 127th career assist, four behind current assistant coach Steve Kazimer for second on the school’s all-time list and 10 behind Schmith’s record of 137.

With two caused turnovers, senior Evan Douglass (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) also reached a personal milestone, totaing the 100th of his career, becoming the first player in school history to reach triple digits.

Tota led the Red Dragons with three goals while Jay DiStefano had two goals and two assists. Mike Kaminski had 12 saves.

Stevenson faces his its fourth-straight top-10 opponent on Wednesday when it welcomes No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Tufts to Caves Athletics Complex beginning at 4:00 p.m.

Mids Win Third Straight, Cruise to 8-3 Win over Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. — The Navy men’s lacrosse team (4-4, 2-2 Patriot League) used a crippling defense and took advantage of 10 Holy Cross penalties to post an 8-3 victory over the Crusaders (0-7, 0-2 Patriot League) Saturday afternoon at Hart Turf Field in Worcester, Mass. The Mids have now won three-consecutive games after dropping four in a row on the road.

“Holy Cross really slowed it down and their defense packed it in tight and played zone,” said Navy head Coach Richie Meade, who has never lost to Holy Cross in his 17 years at the Academy. “It was a little sloppy out there early, but we settled in played our game.”

The story of the game came down to possession. Not only did junior faceoff specialist Logan West (Berlin, Md.) control 11 of the 14 draws in the game, Navy also possessed the ball a great deal of the contest due to Holy Cross racking up nearly 10 minutes of penalty time. Navy scored goals on five of its 10 extra-man opportunities, including the game’s first goal at the 2:23 mark in the opening period. Freshmen attackmen Tucker Hull (Charlotte, N.C.) and Harrison Chaires (Ellicott City, Md.) worked together to put the Mids on the the scoreboard in what would be a lead they’d not relinquish.

Chaires punched in his second of three extra-man goals at 12:29 in the second quarter with Jay Mann (Cockeysville, Md.) finding him for a nifty shot.

Hull, who was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week earlier in the week, then put Navy up 4-0 with back-to-back goals, including his first man-up goal of the year at the 10:26 mark,

Navy’s defense smothered Holy Cross the entire first half and after nearly 35 minutes of scoreless play, the Crusaders got on the board thanks to an unassisted goal by junior midfielder Andrew Morici.

Navy, though, went on to score three unanswered goals in the span of two minutes. The run began when junior attackman Taylor Reynolds (Babylon, N.Y.) found senior middie Andy Warner (Corning, N.Y.) for the goal at the 8:03 mark. It was one of only three even-strength goals by the Mids in the contest. A minute later, at the 7:05 mark, Warner pumped in an unassisted extra-man goal. Meanwhile, Chaires turned in his first-collegiate hat trick with his third man-up goal of the afternoon off an assist from Hull.

Chaires is the first Navy player to score three extra-man goals in a single game since All-American Adam Borcz talled three against Penn State on April 14, 2001.

The Mids were not done, however, extending their lead to 8-1 on a Brian Striffler (Virginia Beach, Va.)-to-Sam Jones (Annapolis, Md.) goal at the 4:30 mark.

Navy made a change between the pipes following Jones’ goal, giving senior Mike Haas (Blue Bell, Pa.) just his second-career appearance in goal. Haas would give up a pair of goals in the final four-plus minutes, including a garbage goal with 17 seconds remaining in the game to senior attackman Colin Flood.

The three goals are the fewest the Mids’ defense have surrendered since last year’s Navy-Holy Cross tilt in which the Mids won, 12-3, in Annapolis. Ironically, it’s also the last time Navy held an opponent scoreless for a half. In last year’s game, Navy jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead before the crusaders scored in the 39th minute.

“I thought we really played great defense today,” added Meade. “It was probably the best one-on-one defense we’ve played this season. Jordan Seivold played probably his best and our two senior shorties Brian Striffler and Marty Gallagher were both enforcers out there.”

With his two-goal, one-assist effort against the Crusaders, Warner extended his point streak to 20-consecutive games which is tied as the 18th-longest streak in the country. Meanwhile, he is just four points shy of becomming only the 29th player in program history to score 100 points in a career. The last player to join the list was Nick Mirabito who amassed 158 points from 2005-08.

Meanwhile, West continues to roll at the “x.” Over the last three games, he has won 46 of the 66 draws (.697) he has taken. During the Mids’ four-game slied, he won 20 of the 53 faceoffs (.377) he took.

The Mids return to action next Saturday when they play host to Patriot League foe Colgate. Action is slated for 12:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

Here are the official recaps, courtesy of the Loyola and Stevenson Sports Information Departments…

#19 Denver Uses 6-0 Run In Win Over #17 Loyola

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland’s Patrick Fanshaw scored an extra-man goal 47 seconds in the second half to tie the game at 6-6, but No. 19 Denver University scored six unanswered goals and the Pioneers defeated the 17th-ranked Greyhounds, 12-8, on Wednesday night at Ridley Athletic Complex in ECAC Lacrosse League action.

Denver (4-2 overall, 1-0 ECAC) was whistled for an unnecessary roughness penalty nine seconds in to the second half, as Brendan DeBlois checked Loyola face-off specialist John Schiavone in front of the crease, and the Greyhounds went on the extra-man.

Chris Basler found Fanshaw camped in front of the goal, and the sophomore scored to even the game at 6-6.

Neither the Greyhounds (3-2, 1-1), nor Denver scored for nearly eight minutes, however, until Alex Demopoulos tallied a goal for the Pioneers with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

Just six seconds later Mark Matthews scored in an unsettled situation, and the Pioneers were on the run.

Mike Sawyer led all players with four goals for the Greyhounds. He now has scored 14 in his last three games. Josh Hawkins had a career-high nine ground balls.

No. 2 Stevenson Runs Away From No. 9 Roanoke on the Road, 16-6

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Led by six points from senior Jimmy Dailey (Westminster/Winters Mill) and four each from seniors Richie Ford (Baltimore/Towson) and Sean Calabrese (Rockville/DeMatha), the No. 2-ranked Stevenson men’s lacrosse team outscored No. 9 Roanoke 12-3 over the final three quarters en route to a 16-6 victory Wednesday at Kerr Stadium.

The win was the third in the last two seasons for the Mustangs (7-0) against the Maroons and the first in two all-time meetings on the road in Salem, Virginia. The only other meeting between the two in Salem came back in 2001 with Roanoke prevailing, 10-7.

With two goals and four assists, Dailey now has 256 points for his career, just three shy of the school record set by Eric Schmith who had 122 goals and 137 assists from 1996-99.

Roanoke (4-2) jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the game’s first four minutes on goals by Trey Kelley and Reid Mayberry and led 3-2 on a goal by Mike Hayden with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter.

Dailey scored at 2:26 to tie the game at 3-3 before assisting sophomore Tyler Reid (Clinton, Conn./Xavier) with only three seconds left to give Stevenson a 4-3 lead after one. The goals were the first two in a streak of eight consecutive as the Mustangs built a 10-3 lead midway through the third quarter.

Dailey had a goal and two assists during the run while Reid scored twice and Calabrese added a goal and an assist. Calabrese’s four points were one shy of his career-high.

Leading by seven with 11:16 to play in the fourth quarter, Ford scored three-straight goals in a span of 2:22 to push the lead to 10 before assisting on Dailey’s final tally with 4:03 remaining to provide the final margin.

Ford finished with three goals and one assist and now has 253 career points, three behind Dailey and six behind Schmith. He also increased his school record for goals to 173, 43 ahead of Dailey.

Trey Keeley had two goals to lead the Maroons who had an eight-game home win streak snapped with their worst home loss since 2004. Noah Gibby had two assists and Mike Hardon and Charles Pease combined for 17 saves.

Stevenson will face its third consecutive top-10 opponent on Saturday when it welcomes No. 4 SUNY Cortland to Caves Athletics Complex beginning at 1:00 p.m.

The Mustangs won the only previous meeting between the two teams back on Feb. 24, 2007 at Caves Athletics Complex, 10-9. The win over the third-ranked Red Dragons marked the first against a ranked opponent in school history.

Here are the official recaps of this weekend’s local college lacrosse action, as provided by the respective schools’ Sports Information offices.

Seven Terps Score In 8-4 Win At Towson

TOWSON, Md. – Seven different Terps scored to lead the No. 8 University of Maryland men’s lacrosse team to a hard-fought, 8-4, victory at Towson Saturday afternoon at Unitas Stadium.

Maryland (4-1) claimed the advantage right off of the opening face-off. An illegal body check penalty on Peter Mezzanotte gave the Terps an extra-man opportunity and, while Maryland failed to convert on the EMO, the Terps made the Tigers pay, scoing a goal just seven seconds after the penalty expired. Senior Travis Reed fed senior Grant Catalino on the right wing and Catalino beat Tiger goalie Travis Love near side to give the Terps a 1-0 lead at the 13:40 mark.

After Towson (1-3) tied the game at 1-1 with just under seven minutes left in the first, Maryland regained the lead on a nice two-man play by sophomore John Haus and Reed. Haus dodged his defender down the right side of the restraining box. Reed slipped inside the play and Haus fed Reed just outside the crease where he finished the play with a one-timer.

Reed extended the lead to 3-1, finishing a transition opportunity with a great low-to-low shot from the right wing. Sophomore Landon Carr earned his first career assist by getting the ball to Reed with a great 30-yard skip pass.

The Tigers closed the gap to a goal right before the end of the first on a Carl Iacona goal with just two seconds left on the clock.

Maryland looked to be in a bit of trouble early in the second when junior Joe Cummings was sent off on a tripping penalty. But senior defender Ryder Bohlander picked up two tough groundballs to give the Terps possession and another transition opportunity. Senior long pole Brian Farrell converted that into another Maryland goal, off an assist from senior Scott LaRue, to make it a 4-2 Maryland lead with 8:59 left in the second.

Cummings extended the lead to 5-2 less than a minute later on the game’s first unassisted goal, which proved to be the game-winner. He took the ball at the top of the restraining box and used a quick dodge and re-dodge to get by Towson defender Michael Landy. Cummings’ shot got by Love, hit the inside of the right post and bounced over the goal line into the left side of the net for the score.

Haus and Reed reversed roles from the Terps’ second goal of the game to make it a 6-2 Maryland lead. This time it was Reed finding Haus with a nice pass as Haus quickly cut to the front of the crease. Haus then finished with a one-timer.

Towson scored the only two goals of the third quarter to trim the Maryland lead to 6-4 going into the fourth quarter.

But, arguably, the biggest play of the day for the Terps came as the clock wound down in the third. Britton’s shot for the Tigers went wide, but Matt Hughes was there to pick up the groundball. Maryland goalie Niko Amato moved on Britton’s shot and was out of position when Hughes got the ball quickly out of his stick. That’s when Farrell made an outstanding play by leaving his man and jumping in front of the Terrapin goal, blocking Hughes’ shot. Instead of Towson closing to within a goal going into the final period, the Terps maintained their two-goal lead.

Neither team could get any offense going in the fourth until the Terps’ transition game kicked in with less than four minutes left. A Tiger man-up opportunity was thwarted by a groundball by Amato. He then made a long outlet pass to LaRue at the midfield stripe. LaRue looked up an found senior Ryan Young on the left side of the crease and Young ripped a low shot to push the Terrapin lead to 7-4.

Sophomore Curtis Holmes, who won 9 of 16 face-offs on the day, won the ensuing draw, which virtually forced the Tigers to come out of their zone defense, double-team the ball and try to force a turnover. But it didn’t quite work out that way. Junior Drew Snider scored an empty-net goal with 1:33 left to seal the victory for the Terps.

Towson out-shot the Terps 38-21 for the game, but the Tigers only put 13 of those shots on cage thanks to a relentless defensive effort, which was backed-up by eight saves from Amato.

Maryland won the groundball battle, 31-21, with Holmes leading the way with five. Bohlander and senior Brett Schmidt had four groundballs apiece.

The Terps return to action on Friday with a primetime game vs. another in-state rival, UMBC, at 8 p.m. at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium. That game is set to be broadcast locally on WMAR in Baltimore and world-wide on ESPN3.com.

Game Notes:
• With today’s 8-4 win Maryland is now 28-5 all-time vs. Towson.
• The victory also makes the Terps a perfect 14-0 all-time in games played at Towson.
• Senior Grant Catalino’s goal was the 97th of his career, which moved him past Ron Martinello (96, 1997-81) for sole-possession of 12th place on the school’s all-time goals list.
• Catalino’s one point gives him 158 for his career, moving him past Mark Douglas (157, 1988-91) for sole-possession of 16th place on the Terps’ all-time points list.
• Senior Ryan Young’s one point on one goal gives him 129 for his career, moving him past C. Rennie Smith (128, 1952-55) for sole-possession of 25th place on the Terps’ all-time points list.
• With four points on two goals and two assists, senior Travis Reed now has 32 multi-point, 21 multi-goal and 12 multi-assist games for his career.
• With two points on one goal and one assists, sophomore John Haus now has seven multi-point games for his career.
• With two assists, senior Scott LaRue recorded his first career multi-point game.
• With four points on three goals and an assist, senior Ryan Young now had 39 multi-point and 19 multi-goal games for his career.
• The Terps held Towson scoreless in the second and fourth quarters, marking the third and fourth times this season that Maryland has held an opponent without a goal for an entire quarter.

Johns Hopkins Races Past UMBC, 16-5, in Face-Off Classic

BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins got a goal from senior Kyle Wharton just five seconds into the game and the Blue Jays never looked back in a 16-5 victory over UMBC in the third game of the fifth annual Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays improved to 5-1 on the year, 3-2 all-time in Face-Off Classic and 9-0 all-time against UMBC. The Retrievers, who were playing their first-ever game at M&T Bank Stadium, slip to 1-3 on the year.

Hopkins led 5-1 early in the second quarter after the second of Chris Boland’s five goals, but UMBC trimmed the deficit to 6-3 as Rob Grimm and Dave Brown sandwiched goals around a Zach Palmer tally for Johns Hopkins midway through the quarter. Brown’s goal, an unassisted strike with 8:28 remaining in the first half, would be the last for the Retrievers for more than 20 minutes and Hopkins put the game away with a 7-0 run during that time that turned the 6-3 lead into a 13-3 advantage late in the third quarter.

Senior Mark Goodrich opened the spree with an unassisted goal less than 90 seconds after Brown scored and sophomore John Ranagan and Wharton scored back-to-back goals in a span of just 11 seconds late in the period to make it 9-3 at the half.

The Retrievers held the Blue Jays scoreless for nearly six minutes at the start of the third quarter, but Boland’s third goal of the game with 9:02 remaining opened the floodgates as Palmer scored 54 seconds later off a nifty feed from Ranagan and Boland added his fourth of the day – this one off an assist from Palmer – to make it 12-3. An unassisted goal by junior Marshall Burkhart with 2:29 remaining capped the 7-0 run, which was finally halted by Joe Lustgarten’s transition goal with 1:14 remaining in the third quarter.

Hopkins fired home the first three goals of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to a game-high 12 at 16-4 with more than six minutes remaining before Brown closed the scoring with an extra-man goal with just under three minutes to play.
Wharton’s game-opening goal came after the first of senior Matt Dolente’s career-high 15 faceoff wins on the day for the Blue Jays, who held decisive advantages in shots (44-30), ground balls (39-24) and faceoffs (20-5). It was 3-0 after freshman Rob Guida and Boland added first-quarter strikes, but a Scott Hopmann goal with 1:10 left trimmed the deficit to 3-1.

Ranagan and Boland scored back-to-back goals to account for the 5-1 lead early in the second quarter, only to have the Retrievers make it a three-goal game with the Grimm and Brown goals midway through the period. That set the stage for the game-turning 7-0 run, which include goals by six different players for the Blue Jays.

Boland led Johns Hopkins with five goals and the one assist, while Ranagan added a career-high five points on two goal and three assists. Dolente won 15-of-20 faceoffs and grabbed 11 ground balls, while Wharton (2g) and Palmer (2g, 1a) also had multi-point games for the Blue Jays. Sophomore Pierce Bassett posted eight saves and allowed just four goals in just under 54 minutes before giving way to junior Steven Burke.

Brown led UMBC with two goals and Lustgarten added one goal and one assist, while Adam Cohen posted 11 saves in goal for UMBC.

DURHAM, N.C. – Loyola University Maryland’s Mike Sawyer scored five goals for the second game in a row, but Duke University scored the game’s first nine goals and despite a late run by the 10th ranked Greyhounds, the 15th-ranked Blue Devils defeated the visiting Greyhounds, 14-9, on Friday night at Koskinen Stadium.

The loss was Loyola’s first of the season following three victories to open the season.

Duke (3-2 overall) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in just over 20 minutes, as Jordan Wolf scored three times in the first quarter, and David Lawson tallied a goal in transition with 9:48 to go in the second quarter.

Christian Walsh then made it 5-0 with an unassisted goal 3:50 before the half.

Loyola’s Pat Laconi appeared to cause a Duke turnover with less than 20 seconds to play, but Zach Howell came up with the ground ball, and he scored to put the Blue Devils up with 11 seconds to play left in the first half.

After the break, Justin Turri scored for Duke 2:10 into the third frame, and Howell then registered his second and third goals, the latter coming with 11:27 remaining in the quarter.

Mike Sawyer finally broke through for the Greyhounds, taking a Davis Butts pass and scoring 50 seconds after Howell’s tally.

A Duke penalty then led to Loyola’s second goal, as Matt Langan then fed Sawyer who scored an extra-man goal with 9:27 on the clock.

Neither team scored for nearly seven minutes until Loyola had two shots miss with just under three seconds to go in the third. Butts had a shot saved by Dan Wigrizer, but Butts picked up the ground ball and fed Sawyer who recorded the hat trick with his third goal of the game.

Duke’s Robert Rotanz scored on extra-man, pushing the Blue Devils’ lead back to eight, 11-3, but Langan took a Chris Basler pass less than 50 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 11-4.

Howell tallied his fourth of the night with 9:42 to play for Duke’s 12th goal.

Following that, however, Loyola reeled off four goals unanswered. Pat Byrnes scored with 5:26 left in the fourth quarter, and after John Schiavone won the ensuing faceoff, Sawyer tallied his fourth goal of the game 19 ticks later.

Duke had two penalties that gave Loyola an extra-man possession, and Patrick Fanshaw was on the receiving end of a Langan pass, and the sophomore attacker scored to make it 12-7 in Duke’s favor with 3:55 to play.

Schiavone then won the next face-off to himself, picked up the ground ball and raced down the middle of the field, scoring his first goal of the year to make it 12-8 with 3:49 left.

Duke snapped the rally, however, with an extra-man goal by Josh Offit with 2:20 to play. Wolf then scored his fourth for the Blue Devils with 51 ticks on the clock.

Sawyer registered his fifth for the second-straight game, scoring with 30 seconds left. He also scored five last Saturday against Bellarmine.

Loyola outshot the Blue Devils, 34-31, but Wigrizer made 13 saves for Duke. Jake Hagelin tallied eight saves in goal for the Greyhounds.

Schiavone won 14-of-23 face-offs for the Loyola and led all players with nine ground balls. The game, however, was the first time this season that the Greyhounds have come out on the losing side of the ground ball battle. Duke picked up 39 to Loyola’s 27.

The Greyhounds return to Baltimore for the first-ever night men’s lacrosse game at Ridley Athletic Complex. They host ECAC foe Denver University on Wednesday at 7 o’clock.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Stevenson men’s lacrosse senior Jimmy Dailey (Westminster/Winters Mill) posted his fifth consecutive game with at least five points as he totaled seven to lead the No. 2-ranked Mustangs to their second top-10 victory in six games this season, 16-8 over No. 9 Lynchburg Saturday at Caves Athletics Complex.

The Mustangs (6-0) extended their home winning streak to 10 games, scoring eight goals in each half en route to a convincing eight-goal victory.

Dailey totaled five goals and two assists while senior Richie Ford (Baltimore/Towson) finished with four points on two goals and two assists as both moved past former teammate and current assistant coach Steve Kazimer on the school’s all-time points list.

Dailey is now second with 250 and Ford is third with 249. Both trail current record holder Eric Schmith who had 259 points from 1996-99.

The Hornets (4-2) scored two of the game’s first three goals to take a 2-1 lead with 2:39 left in the first quarter before back-to-back goals by seniors Neal Barthelme (Towson/Dulaney) and Ray Witte (Annapolis/St. Peter and Paul) just nine seconds apart to end the quarter gave the Mustangs the lead for good.

Lynchburg’s two first quarter goals by Ben Sauer and Eddie Bilinkas were the first allowed by Stevenson in the opening quarter this season, snapping a streak of 80:42 without a goal. The Mustangs have now outscored their opponents 25-2 in the first quarter this season.

After scoring his first goal with just one second left in the first quarter, Witte added another tally just seven seconds into the second before Bilinkas scored his second to pull the Hornets back within one, 4-3 with 11:51 remaining.

From there, Dailey and Ford combined to score Stevenson’s next four goals and it built an 8-4 halftime lead.

Lynchburg scored the first two goals of the second half to pull within two, but four consecutive goals by the Mustangs, including two more from Dailey pushed the lead to 12-6 after three quarters.

The Hornets again responded with back-to-back goals to start the fourth quarter to cut their deficit to three with 6:50 left until the Mustangs scored four consecutive in a span of 3:07 to provide the final margin.

Eight different players had at least one goal for Stevenson, including freshman Chris Dashiell (Salisbury/Parkside) who netted the first of his carer to cap the scoring. Senior Jake Stocksdale (Westminster/Winters Mill) finished with three assists while Witte, Barthelme and freshman Tony Rossi (Towson/Calvert Hall) each had two goals.

Senior Kyle Menendez (Cockeysville/St. Paul’s) had four casued turnovers and two ground balls while senior Evan Douglass (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) added two caused turnovers and three ground balls to lead a defense that limited the Hornets to just 18 shots and forced 23 turnovers.

Junior Ian Bolland (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes) needed to make just three saves to improve his record to 8-0 as a starter.

Derek Sweet led the Hornets with two goals and two assists while Andrew Wilfong had three assists. Franc Cook made 17 saves before being relieved by Roland St.Clair-Barrie.

Stevenson faces a tough road test against another top-10 team from the ODAC on Wednesday when it travels to No. 5 Roanoke. Game time is at 4:00 p.m.Quick Start Propels Navy Lacrosse to 15-6 Win Over Lafayette

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Navy men’s lacrosse team (2-4, 1-2 Patriot League) jumped out to an 8-0 lead early in the second quarter and never looked back as the Mids dealt Patriot League foe Lafayette (2-3, 0-1 Patriot League) a 15-6 loss Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

It was a pleasant return home for the Midshipmen, who, after opening their season on Feb. 12 at home, had played four-straight games on the road. Along the way, heartbreak had set in as Navy dropped a pair of one-goal decisions to nationally-ranked Loyola and Bucknell, while top-10 ranked North Carolina ousted the Mids by two.

That heartbreak, however, was erased Saturday when Navy put together its most complete game to date, playing to near perfection at every phase of the game. One of the most troubling stats of the season for the Mids has been their lack of success at the faceoff “x” which snowballed into various other deficiencies. And while Navy’s faceoff corps would once again face a formidable foe in all-league performer Cesar Munoz, Navy junior Logan West (Berlin, Md.) was perhaps the biggest difference maker in the Mids’ win over the Leopards.

West, who began to turn his game around in the fourth quarter of last Monday’s Bucknell contest, dominated the “x” on Saturday, winning 16 of the 23 draws he took and in turn, put the ball in the offensive players’ hands.

“I think confidence is what I had been missing,” said West, who came into the game having won just 43.7 percent of his draws. “In the opener I played pretty well, but then it started to go downhill for me in the second half of the Loyola game and I found myself in a slump. I couldn’t seem to get into any rhythm.

“I think our wing play today was probably the best I’ve seen it all year. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

There is certainly a correlation that can be made between faceoff possession and Navy goals. The Mids won six draws in the opening quarter and scored seven goals, while in the third quarter Navy claimed seven faceoffs and in turn stuck five goals.

Navy opened the game on an 8-0 run, featuring a 7-0 advantage after the first quarter of play. Junior Nikk Davis (Cockeysville, Md.), who scored a pair of goals in the final 18 seconds of play to force overtime at Bucknell, punched in the game’s first goal less than two minutes into the contest. The flood gates opened from there and continued into the second quarter where sophomore middie Jay Mann (Cockeysville, Md.) scored 52 seconds into the second frame with a 10-yarder from the right wing to cap the 8-0 run.

Lafayette finally got on the scoreboard with 11:42 to go in the second quarter when all-league attackman Tom Perini capitalized on an extra-man opportunity, sending a hard-driven shot past Navy keeper RJ Wickham (Penn Yan, N.Y.) from 10 yards out. Just 36 seconds later, Navy defenseman Peter Rogers (San Diego, Calif.) got caught up in the netting and Lafayette midfielder Will Heffernan capitalized by curling around and sticking his shot.

After nearly 10 minutes without a goal, Navy senior middie Andy Warner send his 12-yard shot top shelf to give the Mids a 9-2 advantage with 5:03 to go in the opening half.

The Leopards put together a run to close out the half with Heffernan scoring his second of the day, beating Navy defenseman Michael Hirsch (Schwenksville, Pa.) on the crease, followed by an unassisted goal by Doug Prusoff who bullied his way past defensive middie Jordan Seivold (Minnetonka, Minn.) and somehow threaded his shot past Wickham.

Senior midfielder Franklin Floyd trimmed the Mids’ lead to four at 9-5 just minutes into the third period when he cleared the ball and waltzed into the box untouched.

The Mids would gain control, however, scoring back-to-back goals just 22 seconds apart, including a strike by senior pole Tom Mansfield (Port Washington, N.Y.), who, racing down the field in transition, scored his first-collegiate goal.

A roll dodge by Prusoff midway through the third period resulted in a Lafayette goal, but Navy’s defense would keep the Leopards off the scoreboard for the final 22 minutes of the game to preserve the win.

Navy, meanwhile, scored three more in the third and once in the fourth to produce the most goals in a game since defeating VMI last year, 16-5. Freshman attackman Tucker Hull (Charlotte, N.C.) scored a pair of goals in the third quarter, including a man down goal with 5:32 to go. Lafayette’s Perini took a shot following a Navy penalty which took out the legs of one of his own players. Following a stoppage of play, the ball was awarded to Navy. A heads-up play, team captain Marty Gallagher (Wayne, Pa.) sent a long pass to Taylor Reynolds (Babylon, N.Y.) who fed Hull on the doorstep.

It was the Mids’ first man-down goal since Joe Lennon pumped one in at Army on April 12, 2008.

Seven different players scored for Navy, including three – Hull, Warner and freshman Sam Jones (Annapolis, Md.) – who recorded hat tricks. All three players have produced a point in each of the six games this season, while Warner owns one of the nation’s longest point scoring streaks. Ranked 20th, he has turned in either a goal or assist in 18-consecutive games dating back to last year’s Lehigh contest (March 2, 2010).

Jones, who has scored a goal in every game this season, paced the Mids with a career-high six points (3G, 3A). He continues to move his way closer to Navy’s top-10 freshman points, goals and assists list. He has amassed 25 points on 16 goals and nine assists.

Hull, meanwhile, moved into a tie for eighth on Navy’s all-time freshman assists list, turning in his 10th helper of the year. He is tied with John Hawley (1985) and Jim Shulson (1975) and is three shy of tying seventh-place Mike Chanenchuk.

Defensively, it was Navy’s best effort to date, holding the Leopards to six goals. It’s the fewest goals the Mids have given up since defeating Holy Cross, 12-3, on March 20, 2010.

“I think this week we focus on communication, getting fills and sliding at the right time,” said Hirsch, a three-year starter for the Mids. “We were leaving RJ hung out to dry and we just couldn’t continue to let that happen. Our team has been putting up goals and I think we are of the mindset that if we can hold our opponent to under 10 goals, we will win.”

The Midshipmen have a quick turnaround playing host to Towson Tuesday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Faceoff is set for 7:00 pm.

TOWSON, Md. – Towson University head men’s basketball coach Pat Kennedy resigned from his position effective immediately, TU Director of Athletics Mike Waddell announced today. Kennedy completed his seventh season at Towson with a record of 4-26 as the Tigers head coach.

“Pat Kennedy is a class act and a great basketball mind,” said Towson Director of Athletics Mike Waddell. “It is unfortunate the past seven seasons have not met our mutual expectations. I am sure he will continue in the basketball world as he should. We thank Pat and his wife Jeannie for all their efforts the past seven years and wish them the best in the future.”

The 2010-11 season marked Kennedy’s 31st as a Division I head coach. He ranks among the Top 25 active winningest Division I coaches with his 488 career victories, coming in at No. 22 before the start of the 2010-11 campaign.

Kennedy has taken teams to eight NCAA Tournaments and five NIT’s. He has had ten 20-plus win seasons and is the winningest coach in the Colonial Athletic Association. Over his career, 17 of his players he recruited went on to NBA careers, including former Towson Tiger and all-CAA selection Gary Neal from Baltimore’s Calvert Hall College, who is currently with the San Antonio Spurs.

A number of Kennedy’s former assistants have gone on to become head coaches or assistants in the NBA.

For over a decade, Pat served on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Board of Directors and was the organization’s President in 2004-05.

A confidential national search for the next head coach of Towson basketball will begin immediately. Towson will be utilizing the services of Fogler Enterprises, a nationally recognized firm that conducts searches for championship caliber basketball coaches. TU Director of Athletics Mike Waddell will not be making any further comments on the search until the process has concluded.

Q&A with Director of Athletics Mike Waddell

What are you looking for in a new head men’s basketball coach?

First and foremost we are looking for the best fit for the long term benefit and development of our men’s basketball program. That takes into consideration a coach’s knowledge of the game and the ability to be an effective teacher and communicator. Our coach must have solid East Coast recruiting ties and a proven track record of being able to recruit a high caliber of player. We will talk with existing head coaches, former head coaches, current college and pro assistants. Being able to build a coaching staff is a very important element towards building a winning program.

Specifically when you talk style of play, I would like to see someone who values a tough minded, physical style of basketball, intense defense, solid fundamentals, and up tempo offense that is fun to watch. Win or lose going forward teams need to remember the Tigers the morning after we play them. That will breed an attitude amongst our team and our fans. There is nothing like watching student-athletes who give their all, dive for loose balls, and play with great emotion. The type of coach that we will bring to Towson will value these traits, along with others. This will all come to the surface when we interview candidates over the run of the process. There are things that you know going in are 100 percent essential and then there are other traits that will become apparent when the right person is in the room with you. I cannot over communicate the need for a true fit for this position.

What is the timeline to have a new coach in place?

Ideally, we would have our new coach and his staff in place soon after the Final Four is complete in Houston, sometime during the first week in April or thereabout. A lot of this depends on when the coaches we want to talk to are finished with their seasons. The spring recruiting period begins around the middle of the month following a dead period immediately after the Final Four. By meeting this timeline, we set ourselves up to be able to fill out our roster spots with some recruits in the spring signing period.

What are your selling points that you will use when talking to coaches about the position?

I believe that we have one of the best jobs in mid-major basketball when you look at the facts. We have a great city to live in, a great recruiting area to draw talent from, and an outstanding University for our prospective student-athletes to get a first-class education. Probably the most exciting attribute is that starting in two years Towson will have the best basketball arena in the CAA as well as a new dedicated practice facility. Off the court we are making improvements such as improved academic support, a dedicated basketball strength and conditioning coach and sports medicine professional, plus enhancements in housing assignments for our basketball program and the best meal plans to enhance their physical development. We will also be looking to upgrade the competitive schedule to include some additional television appearances for the program and will be working with Under Armour to maximize our basketball brand, nationally and internationally. We are very fortunate to have some enhanced support coming in from a variety of areas and that will be a booster rocket behind Tiger Basketball. We’re going to be successful here at Towson because there is simply no other outcome that is acceptable.

Who will be running the program during your search for a new head coach?

I have asked Assistant Coach Phil Cohen and Director of Basketball Operations Kerry Kinard to stay on during this interim period. Phil was the director of basketball operations last year before becoming an assistant coach. Kerry joined the staff this past October following stops with the Utah Jazz and Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA. They will conduct off-season workouts, help monitor academic performance while Assistant A.D. for Sports Performance James Shipp will oversee the weight room workouts and the rehabilitation of any lingering seasonal injuries.

Are you using a committee to assist you in the process of selecting the new head coach?

I will be speaking with a lot of different people over the course of the search who will share knowledge and counsel on the various candidates that we will visit with. There will be no formal search committee. Once I have a candidate that I am comfortable with, I will forward that name to the President for final approval.

When will you update fans on the progress of the search?

This interview will be the only time during the process that I will be communicating with the Tiger Nation until we have a press conference and welcome in our new coach. Over the last 22 years, I have been a part of a lot of coaching searches, some more high profile than others. One thing that I have learned is that you really can impair the process by conducting business through the media, intentionally or otherwise. We have a plan on how to find a new head men’s basketball coach for Towson University and we will go out and bring back the best coach to lead us to the top of the CAA and beyond. Once we have a coach, we’ll call a press conference and will have that for you live on www.TowsonTigers.com. Once something is decided, we will not let time pass before we share that with our fans and alumni. The more secure the process can operate the better quality of people who will be involved.